Total pages in book: 401
Estimated words: 390373 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1952(@200wpm)___ 1561(@250wpm)___ 1301(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 390373 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1952(@200wpm)___ 1561(@250wpm)___ 1301(@300wpm)
I remembered then what Rhahar had said. I’d completely forgotten it in the aftermath. “Kyn?”
Her head jerked toward me, and she nodded curtly. “How do you know about him?”
“Rhahar said it,” Casteel answered, crossing the entry hall. “It seemed I reminded Attes of someone, too. He never said a name, though.”
I didn’t miss how Seraphena’s features tightened. “Kyn was Attes’s brother. His twin,” she said, surprising me. “They were nearly identical. I supposed they would’ve been considered fraternal twins, just as Malec and Ires, but they shared far more physical similarities. Just minor differences, such as hair color.”
Casteel stopped to stand next to me. “Attes looked like an older version of my brother, Malik, and was damn near a spitting image of our father.”
Seraphena frowned, likely at the name so similar to her son’s, but seemed to let it go. “You’re not twins, though?”
Casteel shook his head. “You’re not going to tell me anything more about my ancestry?”
“Nope.” Her smile returned. “I’ll leave that up to your father.”
Her smile had the knowing edge of someone who knew something another did not.
It was slightly unnerving.
“What happened to Kyn?” Casteel asked.
It took a moment for the vadentia to do its thing. It didn’t tell me what’d happened to him, but it did tell me who he was. The Primal God of Peace and Vengeance.
Seraphena’s eyes met Casteel’s. “Attes killed him.”
I choked on the breath I took and coughed. “Sorry,” I croaked as Casteel turned to me in concern. “I wasn’t expecting you to say that.”
Seraphena winced as Casteel rubbed the center of my back while I struggled to not wheeze in front of the Queen of the Gods. “It should be me who’s apologizing. I can be a bit…blunt.”
“He killed his brother,” Casteel said, “and we’re supposed to trust him?”
“He killed his brother and still helped break Kolis’s influence over Penellaphe,” she countered.
“Those two things seem grossly unrelated,” he responded.
“Oddly, they aren’t,” she said, causing me to frown. “Kyn was loyal to Kolis.” Essence crackled through her irises. “The fucker deserved it.”
I opened my mouth and then snapped it shut. All right, then.
I felt Reaver drawing close. Casteel’s head tilted, eyes narrowing slightly. “What does Kyn have to do with Attes helping us?” he asked.
Seraphena didn’t answer for a moment. “You will have to ask him.”
Casteel smiled, but there was no hint of his dimple. “I will.”
“Good.” Seraphena’s smile was unnervingly wide. “I’m sure that will go…well.”
Cas’s smile faded.
Okay.
Time to change the subject.
I cleared my throat. “Did Reaver tell you that I tried to wake Jadis?”
Pulling her stare from Casteel, she nodded. “Thank you for trying.”
I shifted, uncomfortable with the gratitude when I hadn’t been able to do it. “Nektas thought I could wake her.”
“You will be able to,” she said, sounding so damn confident my stomach tumbled. “Jadis just needs…coaxing.” The skin around the corners of her mouth pulled taut. “But the eather in you? Even being a baby Primal, it’s powerful enough to wake her. She just has to want to.”
The iron doors groaned as they opened, and I dared a quick peek in that direction.
“At least he’s wearing pants instead of carrying them this time,” Casteel muttered.
I cracked a grin.
Reaver approached, his chin down and fair hair shielding most of his face.
Seraphena stepped forward and placed a hand on his arm. “Ready?” she asked softly.
Reaver nodded, then led us toward the northern hall. We followed, hoping Seraphena was right, and I could wake Jadis this time.
“You mentioned seeing Holland and Lirian,” Seraphena said as we crossed the large vestibule. “Was that when you crossed the Veil? Or when you were in Iliseeum?”
Surprised, I glanced over at her as something that felt a lot like disappointment rose. She’d known I was there but hadn’t come to see me?
“I sensed your presence there,” she continued as we passed under the arched opening. “But I wasn’t in the right frame of mind to come to you.” Her gaze slid to mine. “In other words, I was quite pissed off that Holland had stopped me from crossing the Veil. We had it out once I sensed his return.”
My disappointment eased as I wondered if that was what had delayed him. “I met Holland in the Continents—that’s what the place was called,” I explained, scanning the imposing liminite statues. In the sunlight of dawn, the stone was more gray than lavender. “Then Lirian while I was at Mount Lotho. Then there was…” I trailed off, frowning.
“Aydun,” Casteel finished for me. The sudden feeling of something not being as I remembered rose.
Seraphena jerked to a halt. “Aydun?” she repeated. Reaver stopped and faced us. “The…Fate, Aydun?”
“If we’re speaking about an Aydun who has his nipples pierced,” Casteel replied as I scanned the hall—nothing looked different, “then yes.”
Seraphena’s lips flattened. “When did you speak with him?”
“When Poppy crossed the Veil,” he explained as we started walking again. “He was there to make sure I…behaved myself.”